On the square in Dahlonega, the Gold Museum is most interesting if paired with a gold mine tour. We enjoyed visiting the museum (watch the movie first to understand the exhibits!). The movie is upstairs -- I don't think the building has an elevator nor restrooms, though, so be prepared. My kids found the exhibits to be interesting once they saw the movie and had learned about the Georgian Gold Rush.

The Chief Vann House has a fascinating story behind it relating to the Trail of Tears. We greatly enjoyed the museum, movie, grounds and the house itself. The house has steep stairwells, so not stroller friendly. Plus the heirloom garden is fun to walk through.

What a museum! CAS was not on my original list of places to go while we were in California, but as the Exploratorium was closed, I decided to give it a try, and I'm so glad we went! My daughter loved the rainforest, the aquarium, the living roof, the earthquake exhibit and all the rest! She found the exhibits all to be engaging and informative. Plus, the cafeteria has wonderful, healthy choices! I understand it can be crowded, but we lucked out and only had a few short lines to wait in while we were there. Bonus : we got a discount for taking MUNI (the bus).

I could spend days exploring the park! The kids, even at 10 and 14, spent an hour at the Koret Children's Quarter playground. We then headed to the museums, the deYong and the California Academy of Sciences. Both were fantastic. Lunch at the Park Chalet was relaxing and delicious. A stroll by the windmills and the bison ended at Sprekles Lake where we watched the remote control sailboats for a while. So much to see and do!

The ONE thing my girls (10 and 14) insisted on doing while w were in SF was a trip to Alcatraz. I was impressed with the online ordering system and ticket pickup. Easy. We were hungry and ate in the SF side cafe - lovely choices, including Amy's pizzas - we were all happy. The line to board the ferry was a little long and hot and had that annoying "required" green screen photo - ugh. We loved the ferry ride there and back. The island was "steep", and I'm not sure how much children who are not willing to listen to audio tours would get out of the tour of the prison itself. We overhead some of the ranger-led tour, and that looked amazing. If we were to go again, I'd opt for that! While there, we were fascinated by the plants and the animals -- lots of birds, even baby ducklings! My 10yo chose to do the junior ranger program -- a little frustrating, but good overall in the end. Both girls were fascinated by the fact that kids used to live on the island!